In shock after the withdrawal of Benjamin Griveaux from the race for mayor of Paris, the government does not intend to launch an anti-sextape plan. “There has to be legal proceedings. There is already a very clear law of October 2016 which penalizes attacks on sexual intimacy on digital, "recalls Franck Riester, the Minister of Culture, at Parisien-Today in France.
The dissemination of pornographic content without the consent of the people who are filmed is punishable by two years' imprisonment and a fine of 60,000 euros. This is what the Russian Piotr Pavlenski, the activist behind the revelations on an obscure site hosted in Canada, risks.
VIDEO. Removal of Griveaux: who is Piotr Pavlenski, the man who broadcast the videos?
But Franck Riester hopes that the courts will apply this law more widely and will also punish those who relayed the videos of a sexual nature of the former candidate (LREM) to the mayor of Paris. “Those who share this illegal content, especially on social networks, advertise it. Retweeting is broadcasting. They must also be punished, ”said the minister. This is the case for example of Joachim Son-Forget, ex-deputy LREM, who was the first personality to tweet a link to the videos of Benjamin Griveaux.
"Everyone is responsible"
Franck Riester is waiting to see how the judges will apply the law, and does not rule out re-examining it if necessary. “What happened is very serious, insists the Minister of Culture. Both for Benjamin Griveaux and his family, but also for democracy. First, because it has an impact on the normal course of an election. But above all because it is necessary to protect the privacy of French people. It is a major battle for our society. It is not a question of helping such and such a political actor, but all our compatriots. "
"Many teenagers are blackmailed because of private photos or videos," he says. What can have serious consequences on their families, their personal life and their professional career, also recalls Franck Riester. Everyone is responsible and must take care not to advertise ”, adds the Minister, who also points to the responsibility of digital platforms.
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“France is one of the first countries to pass a law against the spread of false information and to fight against hate speech. Platforms, search engines and social networks must also help us fight against attacks on sexual intimacy. It is all the more important that they have a major weight in our lives, "he concludes by calling on the other countries of the European Union to mobilize to weigh against the American giants of the web.